Correctly identifying her family as a bunch of carb-obsessed lunatics, my mother both stuffed the turkey and made a separate casserole dish of stuffing to bake on the outside. Truth be told, that was my favorite part, as I thought the interior stuffing got too gooey, while the outside baked one baked up nice and crisp. Since the majority of my family agreed, eventually we just gave up the “stuffing” part of stuffing altogether, throwing a few lemons in the bird instead and focusing on the crispy edges of casserole stuffing.

As Thanksgiving Day approaches, I have noticed debates over what constitutes “stuffing” versus “dressing.” I guess that what my family called the former is actually the latter. According to Grammarist, for example, “Stuffing is any mixture that is cooked inside poultry or meat,” while “Dressing is any bread mixture that is cooked in a pan and meant as an accompaniment to a meat or poultry dish.”

But Huffington Post reveals that some of the designation can also be regional. In a national survey by GE Appliances of over 1,500 people in the U.S., about three-fourths said “stuffing,” while the other quarter referred to “dressing.” According to GE, “You’re most likely to hear ‘dressing’ from your friends and family in the southern region of the United States, specifically Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee.” But HuffPost reveals that “in the Midwestern states, it’s called stuffing regardless of the ingredients or whether it’s cooked inside a turkey,” which would explain my family’s vernacular. It would also explain the Stove Top Stuffing box.